Among various fields of medical science, neurodegenerative diseases have been the least developed. Accordingly, thesesdays many foreign pharmaceutical companies are focusing on neurodegenerative diseases, especially, on dementia. Since no excellent treatment for dementia has been developed yet, the development of a new treatment for dementia is expected to form a huge market.
Upon pathological examination of dementia patients' cerebral cells and organs, plaque formed by the accumulation of β-amyloid protein has been commonly observed. However, it is controversial whether such plaque works as a pathogenesis or is accumulated as a product of the pathogenesis. Only the fact that senile plaques were formed in most dementia patients, and that dementia symptoms improved when such plaques decreased was observed. Many researchers have looked for the cause of dementia and its treatment, but they have not been revealed, yet.
On the other hand, Korean Pat. Application No. 2001-20411 and International Pat. Application No. PCT/KR01/02103 by the present inventors, the content thereof being incorporated herein by reference, disclose excellent therapeutic effects of ferulic acid dimers on dementia. The excellent therapeutic effects of ferulic acid dimers on dementia has been confirmed by an in vivo experiment, wherein ferulic acid dimers are administrated to a mouse, wherein leads to a considerable increase in the memory-retention ability of the mouse. A biochemical mechanism of ferulic acid has not been revealed yet, but the above Pat. Applications, disclose that ferulic acid dimers have excellent therapeutic effects on dementia.